1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a damper device, and more particularly to a steering damper device.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
There is known a steering damper device comprising a cylinder with a piston slidably fitted therein, the interior space of the cylinder being divided by the piston into two fluid chambers that communicate with each other through an orifice. Such a steering damper device is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publications Nos. 57-47592 (published on Mar. 17, 1982) and 60-45287 (published on Mar. 30, 1985), for example. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 60-219183 (published on Nov. 1, 1985) shows a similar steering damper device including a detector for detecting a steering control factor, the restriction of the orifice being variably controlled by a detected signal from the detector.
The steering damper device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 60-219183 requires an electronic control circuit for controlling the orifice in response to a signal supplied from a steering force detector and indicating a detected steering force. The electronic control circuit is required to effect a complex control mode for calculating a steering acceleration, for example, in order to lower a kickback. The word "kickback" used herein means an instantaneous force transmitted as the resistance of a road to steerable wheels and acting on the driver's hand on the steering handle to counteract the steering handle which is turned by the driver. The disclosed steering damper device is therefore expensive to manufacture.
The present invention has been made in an effort effectively to solve the problems of the conventional steering damper devices.